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| Such a sweet sweet face! |
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| His first time watching Gamecock football with daddy! |
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| Grayson's favorite place to sleep! |
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Grayson Thomas Sharp Arrives!
Looks like our little boy just couldn't wait to get here. He was born at 6:22 am on Sunday, September 4. Weighing 6 lbs., 2 oz., and measuring 19 inches long.
Quite a surprise! All signs pointed to a late September-early October birth, but he had other plans for us. We went in to our routine midwives appointment on Monday last week, which went well, but at the end they did a "position check" to make sure he was still head-down. Turns out that he had turned head-up, with his feet in a pike position; they call it a "frank breech" position. Our midwife strongly suggested that we schedule an external cephalic version to try and turn him from the outside, a procedure with about a 60% success rate and very minimal risks. We said "yes" and agreed to show up at the hospital the following Saturday. In the meantime, they had us doing all sorts of crazy things to encourage him to turn on his own. Carrie was doing handstands in the swimming pool each night, we were doing moxibustion and exercises each night but no luck! Carrie kept telling him to turn if he could, but if there was some reason that he could not turn that we wouldn't be disappointed...we've heard that there are often reasons babies stay breech for important reasons (cord wrapped around, etc.) which keep them safe.
We arrived at the hospital feeling optimistic. Our doula, Jennifer, came to check out the procedure since she'd never seen it done before. The OB came in and fired up the ultrasound machine to make sure that he hadn't turned head-down since Monday. As he looked around, he quietly said, "Where's all the fluid...?" while moving the wand over Carrie's belly. The more he looked, the more we could tell that something was off. Finally he told us that it didn't look like Carrie had much amniotic fluid, which meant that they couldn't perform the version with much chance of success. Pardon the car analogy, but it's a bit like not having any oil in the engine. No lubrication, no movement. He called in an ultrasound expert to do another check with a much higher resolution machine. She confirmed his suspicions: Carrie's amniotic fluid was WAY too low given where she's at in the pregnancy.
The OB sat down on the hospital bed, looked straight at Carrie, and said, "You need to have this baby today."
Our jaws dropped (figuratively). He went on to explain that there was about a 20% chance that, if we left the hospital and continued the pregnancy without intervention, the baby would die due to cord compression or something similar. But having the baby three weeks early meant that we risked his lungs and "sucking muscles" (for breastfeeding) being underdeveloped. He might have to spend some time in the neonatal intensive care unit after being born. To ice the cake, Carrie would have to have a C-section instead of the vaginal birth she was hoping for. We were distraught, to say the least. Carrie especially. We'd spent so many weeks preparing for a natural birth, and now we were facing what seemed like a lose-lose situation that was completely on the other end of the spectrum of birth experiences.
After much deliberation and running through all of the options, we reluctantly decided to go ahead with the C-section at 6 am the next morning. We thought about staying in the hospital for another week, with Carrie hooked to the monitor, to let him "cook" a little longer and lower the chances of him being born with underdeveloped lungs and such. Turns out insurance is not willing to pay for that when it's not medically necessary, which it wasn't because he was technically "full term" at 37 weeks and could supposedly be delivered without risk. We VERY briefly considered going home and taking our chances, but shot that idea down almost immediately. When it came down to it, we felt that risking him being slightly underdeveloped was far more preferable than taking the chance that he could die if we didn't go through with the C-section.
We freaked out alone for a bit, shed some tears, and then got moving. We called family and gathered our things for a few days in the hospital. Our doula proved invaluable as she talked us through everything and reassured us when we got anxious. Carrie's mom agreed to come up, and we fortunately had our wonderful friends Emilie and Doug to take our dog, Bentley. I finally got back to the hospital at 9 pm or so, and we tried to get to sleep. Sleeping proved very difficult. Carrie was understandably worried that we'd made the wrong decision, and she couldn't settle down. It did not help that she was given massive amounts of IV fluid to prep for the surgery and had to use the bathroom every 30 minutes. So we spent a long night wondering if we were doing the right thing. It was agonizing.
Our nurse came at 5:30 to wake us up. It was go time. The anesthesiologist came in and explained that he'd be administering a numbing medication via Carrie's spine (not an epidural, but similar), then they'd set her up for the surgery. They told me to leave, put on a sterile suit, and be ready outside the operating room. At 6:15, they called me in. She was ready, lying on her back with a sheet hung vertically over her abdomen to keep us from seeing the surgery. I sat down and took her hand. She was breathing deeply and looked surprisingly serene. I was a ball of barely contained nervous energy, just holding her hand and not knowing what to do with myself. I heard our doula say, "They're making the incision." We felt Carrie's body move on the other side of the sheet. After what seemed like no more than a minute or two, I heard our midwife on the other side of the sheet say, "Things are going to move very quickly in just a second, folks." The next moment, the OB was yelling, "Dad, get up here and look!" I stood up and looked over the sheet to see my son being pulled, butt first, from Carrie's belly. He was out in a flash, started crying immediately, and was thrust over the now-lowered sheet for Carrie to see him.
They took him to a warmer, where a pediatrician and nursery nurse performed the initial exam. I was numb until our doula pushed me and yelled, "Get over there with him!" I got to watch the initial exam, touch his little arms and legs, and take some pictures. I was delirious...crying and laughing and trying to say things but not making any sense at all. He got a 9 of 10 on his exam, which meant that his lungs were okay after all! They wrapped him up and gave him to me so that I could take him to Carrie. I laid him on her chest, and we just stared and touched him while she was stitched up. Soon after, we all went to the recovery room, where he started to breast feed right away. It was incredible.
We learned that this was the first time our hospital allowed a baby to be put skin-to-skin with a mom right away after a C-section and stay there throughout the recovery. Usually they take the baby to the nursery while mom's being sewed up, but our doula and midwife talked with the OB, pediatrician, and nursery nurse to advocate for us to be able to keep him with Carrie as much as possible.
Quite a surprise! All signs pointed to a late September-early October birth, but he had other plans for us. We went in to our routine midwives appointment on Monday last week, which went well, but at the end they did a "position check" to make sure he was still head-down. Turns out that he had turned head-up, with his feet in a pike position; they call it a "frank breech" position. Our midwife strongly suggested that we schedule an external cephalic version to try and turn him from the outside, a procedure with about a 60% success rate and very minimal risks. We said "yes" and agreed to show up at the hospital the following Saturday. In the meantime, they had us doing all sorts of crazy things to encourage him to turn on his own. Carrie was doing handstands in the swimming pool each night, we were doing moxibustion and exercises each night but no luck! Carrie kept telling him to turn if he could, but if there was some reason that he could not turn that we wouldn't be disappointed...we've heard that there are often reasons babies stay breech for important reasons (cord wrapped around, etc.) which keep them safe.
We arrived at the hospital feeling optimistic. Our doula, Jennifer, came to check out the procedure since she'd never seen it done before. The OB came in and fired up the ultrasound machine to make sure that he hadn't turned head-down since Monday. As he looked around, he quietly said, "Where's all the fluid...?" while moving the wand over Carrie's belly. The more he looked, the more we could tell that something was off. Finally he told us that it didn't look like Carrie had much amniotic fluid, which meant that they couldn't perform the version with much chance of success. Pardon the car analogy, but it's a bit like not having any oil in the engine. No lubrication, no movement. He called in an ultrasound expert to do another check with a much higher resolution machine. She confirmed his suspicions: Carrie's amniotic fluid was WAY too low given where she's at in the pregnancy.
The OB sat down on the hospital bed, looked straight at Carrie, and said, "You need to have this baby today."
Our jaws dropped (figuratively). He went on to explain that there was about a 20% chance that, if we left the hospital and continued the pregnancy without intervention, the baby would die due to cord compression or something similar. But having the baby three weeks early meant that we risked his lungs and "sucking muscles" (for breastfeeding) being underdeveloped. He might have to spend some time in the neonatal intensive care unit after being born. To ice the cake, Carrie would have to have a C-section instead of the vaginal birth she was hoping for. We were distraught, to say the least. Carrie especially. We'd spent so many weeks preparing for a natural birth, and now we were facing what seemed like a lose-lose situation that was completely on the other end of the spectrum of birth experiences.
After much deliberation and running through all of the options, we reluctantly decided to go ahead with the C-section at 6 am the next morning. We thought about staying in the hospital for another week, with Carrie hooked to the monitor, to let him "cook" a little longer and lower the chances of him being born with underdeveloped lungs and such. Turns out insurance is not willing to pay for that when it's not medically necessary, which it wasn't because he was technically "full term" at 37 weeks and could supposedly be delivered without risk. We VERY briefly considered going home and taking our chances, but shot that idea down almost immediately. When it came down to it, we felt that risking him being slightly underdeveloped was far more preferable than taking the chance that he could die if we didn't go through with the C-section.
We freaked out alone for a bit, shed some tears, and then got moving. We called family and gathered our things for a few days in the hospital. Our doula proved invaluable as she talked us through everything and reassured us when we got anxious. Carrie's mom agreed to come up, and we fortunately had our wonderful friends Emilie and Doug to take our dog, Bentley. I finally got back to the hospital at 9 pm or so, and we tried to get to sleep. Sleeping proved very difficult. Carrie was understandably worried that we'd made the wrong decision, and she couldn't settle down. It did not help that she was given massive amounts of IV fluid to prep for the surgery and had to use the bathroom every 30 minutes. So we spent a long night wondering if we were doing the right thing. It was agonizing.
 |
| The last pregnancy pic. Eight hours before birth. |
Our nurse came at 5:30 to wake us up. It was go time. The anesthesiologist came in and explained that he'd be administering a numbing medication via Carrie's spine (not an epidural, but similar), then they'd set her up for the surgery. They told me to leave, put on a sterile suit, and be ready outside the operating room. At 6:15, they called me in. She was ready, lying on her back with a sheet hung vertically over her abdomen to keep us from seeing the surgery. I sat down and took her hand. She was breathing deeply and looked surprisingly serene. I was a ball of barely contained nervous energy, just holding her hand and not knowing what to do with myself. I heard our doula say, "They're making the incision." We felt Carrie's body move on the other side of the sheet. After what seemed like no more than a minute or two, I heard our midwife on the other side of the sheet say, "Things are going to move very quickly in just a second, folks." The next moment, the OB was yelling, "Dad, get up here and look!" I stood up and looked over the sheet to see my son being pulled, butt first, from Carrie's belly. He was out in a flash, started crying immediately, and was thrust over the now-lowered sheet for Carrie to see him.
They took him to a warmer, where a pediatrician and nursery nurse performed the initial exam. I was numb until our doula pushed me and yelled, "Get over there with him!" I got to watch the initial exam, touch his little arms and legs, and take some pictures. I was delirious...crying and laughing and trying to say things but not making any sense at all. He got a 9 of 10 on his exam, which meant that his lungs were okay after all! They wrapped him up and gave him to me so that I could take him to Carrie. I laid him on her chest, and we just stared and touched him while she was stitched up. Soon after, we all went to the recovery room, where he started to breast feed right away. It was incredible.
We learned that this was the first time our hospital allowed a baby to be put skin-to-skin with a mom right away after a C-section and stay there throughout the recovery. Usually they take the baby to the nursery while mom's being sewed up, but our doula and midwife talked with the OB, pediatrician, and nursery nurse to advocate for us to be able to keep him with Carrie as much as possible.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Almost Finished...
All of his tiny, adorable clothes. And an Owl Snuggle Sack - perfect for a first Halloween!
Found this dresser on Craigslist and refinished it.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Honeymoon Revision
After some hard thinking (and some political unrest in the Philippines), Carrie and I have decided to take our honeymoon a little closer to home in Guatemala and Belize! We're taking off on March 12 to stay for a couple of weeks - we're going to tour around the country in Guatemala before spending a few days on the beach on the coast of Belize :) Hopefully we'll visit some of these places while we're there!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Robyn Turns 30!!
We are all slowly but surely reaching the magical age of 30 - this time it was Robyn's turn! We had an awesome dinner at Tangier Moroccan restaurant in Boulder - complete with belly dancing, a traditional family-style feast, and a Moroccan cocktail to end the night! The owners were so gracious and lots of fun :) And we ate with our hands!
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Biscuit Arrives
After a lot of discussion, looking for breeders, and playing with many different puppies, we finally brought home our little fur baby! Even though he's keeping us up at night and keeping us guessing during the day, he is awesome :) Here are some pictures of Bentley Buttermilk Biscuit Haynes-Sharp.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
East Coast Holiday Extravaganza
Since this year is an "off" year for Christmas in Colorado, Carrie and I traveled to South Carolina to hang out with my family and friends. We decided to take 10 days this time so that we'd have plenty of time to see everyone, and it still felt rushed. We saw a lot of North and South Carolina though - dinner with Bette and Rob in Winston-Salem, quality time at the Wild Wing and Jim & Heather's house in Greenville, and a stellar New Year's in Charleston! This year also marked the first of many Sharp-Haynes-Brazil family 5k races! We even got shirts and everything.
We were so lucky that my brother Brian and sister-in-law Laura hung out with us so much throughout the whole trip too. Too many highlights to talk about in detail - we'll let the pictures tell the story :)
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Marathon, Take 2
After the disappointment of getting the flu right before the Denver marathon, I decided to give it another try at the California International Marathon in Sacramento, CA. Now I normally wouldn't go through so much trouble to run a marathon, but I'd been challenged my friend Tim to qualify for the Boston Marathon in April so that I could run it with him. So of course I had to try. After over six months of training, I was READY to do this. Unfortunately, the Boston Marathon reached its entry quota about a week before I traveled to Sacramento, but I knew that if I qualified I could run Boston in 2011. Rather than retell the story, I've re-posted an account that I wrote shortly after the race here:
Race day started well. I actually slept the night before, which I was not expecting. Up at 4:15 to eat the first of two bagels w/ peanut butter that would hopefully fuel me for the majority of the race. Had a really hard time eating due to nerves, but I choked 'em down with a lot of water and a little coffee.
Out the door of the hotel to catch the bus to the start. This was a point-to-point race, so we had to ride the whole 26+ miles to a little town outside of Sacramento called Folsom. You may recognize it from the Johnny Cash song. When I stepped out off the bus, it was COLD. Below freezing with a touch of fog and some breeze to top it off. I'd been acting all hard the past couple of days because I was "from Colorado," but this cold had me somewhat worried. I'd worn a couple of layers, along with pants and gloves, thinking that I'd throw them all in the gear bag before the race, but I only took off the pants in the end because it was so chilly.
Race time. I warmed up really well and literally ran up to the start line just as the gun was going off. I'd decided to run with a pace group to take away the stress of having to keep my own pace via my GPS watch, which turned out to be an excellent move. When I started, I was running with the 3:30 pace group but needed to catch up to the 3:10 by the finish. They guarantee that if you stick with them, you finish at the designated time. The guys and gals leading those pace groups were rock stars - our guy held a steady pace the whole way without fail. Anyway, I started a little slow and had to keep reminding myself that I had 26 miles to catch the guy. I chatted it up with a couple people over the first few miles and was feeling really good. I made sure to keep the 3:10 guy in site (they were carrying red signs on long sticks) the whole time.
Around mile 10 or 12, I caught up to the 3:15 guy and ran with them for a little bit. I'd heard that the course was deceptively hilly in the first half but a downhill cruise in the second, so I was trying to hold back. I cruised through the halfway point at about a 7:18 pace - I needed a 7:15 to qualify, so this was a good sign. My legs were feeling great, I was grabbing water and gatorade at the aid stations, and generally staying calm and collected. I talked to a couple of people looking to qualify as well, which was fun and connecting and energizing. I had the 3:10 pacer within fifty yards by mile 14 and actually started having thoughts that I was going to make it.
Miles 14-19 were tough. We turned into a 10-15 mph headwind and struggled up and down the rolling hills. People tucked in and were trying to draft one another, but I couldn't seem to find a good place. The pace group got tighter, but I was still about 20 yards behind most of the time. I noticed that my stomach was slowly emptying, which for me is a BAD sign. I had packed four energy gels to eat along the way (basically 100 calorie packs of sugar goo w/ caffeine) and dipped into them ahead of schedule, which worried me. My legs were starting to feel the hills, but I tried to stay positive and keep calm.
Everyone talks about miles 20-26 as "the wall." This is where I melted down in my first marathon, to the point where I was almost literally crawling down the Denver streets. People around me were starting to show fatigue, but I kicked through 20-22 with no problem. I'm feeling good at this point - fantasies about crossing the finish line and how I'll accept congratulations (confidently yet humbly) are floating through my head. Then things gets rough. My legs bottomed out around 23, and I had exhausted my store of gels with little benefit. I was really struggling to stay on pace and the group started to pull away. Then a few things happened - 1) I went through an aid station that was giving out energy gels and grabbed one. This gave me a little extra kick. 2) There were 3 or 4 separate spectators giving out orange slices along the course, and I was able to grab probably 10-15 total and just pound them. Stomach is feeling better at this point as the carbs and sugar are getting into the blood and solid food is taking up some space. 3) I run past a speaker system playing Alabama's "Roll On." You might wonder why that matters, but this just happens to be one of those songs that we used to listen to CONSTANTLY as little kids with my parents. So I get this surge of emotion and adrenaline around mile 24.5 and decide that I am going to do this. I started kicking a little harder and passing some of the people who were struggling. Gradually that pacer came closer and closer, and I just felt that energy building as the crowd got louder and the oranges kicked in. The last couple of miles of the race go down the same street with number avenues marking the blocks, so I was just counting down from 59 to 8 and praying that there was enough time to catch up.
I finally caught the pace guy at mile 26 even. The streets were packed with people cheering us on, which felt awesome. Here it's important to note a detail that I forgot earlier - my dad had surprised me by flying in the day before to watch the race. He called from outside my hotel and asked if I wanted some company for dinner, totally nonchalantly. So we'd spent the evening watching football and eating pasta. This was huge because I'd traveled to Sacramento mainly out of frustration after missing the Denver race and insisted that Carrie not come so that we could save money. So having him there was a big motivation. He used to be a runner, a really good one, and I had all sorts of fantasies about making him proud.
Back to the race. I pulled up next to the pace guy and said, "I've been chasing you the whole race - it feels awesome to be finally running beside you." He just smiled real big and said, "Nice work, man" and laughed. He was a great guy - one of those people who emanates positive energy even at mile 26 of a marathon. So I pass him and look up to see my dad, yelling and just looking SO pumped. He's normally a pretty reserved guy, but he's going all out, screaming my name with his fists in the air - seeing him all excited just sent this huge surge of adrenaline through me. It's choking me up to think about it again. So I run over and give him a solid high five as I run past, just feeling like I was the king of the world.
From there it was only another 300 yards or so to the finish - I took a couple of left turns to the finish chute and was pumping my fist the whole way, trying to get the crowd crunk. Whether they actually cheered louder or I just imagined it, it felt great. Then it was done - 3:09:45, one minute and fifteen seconds faster than I needed to qualify.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
A Thanksgiving Getaway
Nothing like getting out of Colorado during the early winter - especially when you're going to Arizona! We had a fantastic trip down to Phoenix to celebrate Gigi and Tony's wedding and see the rest of the Butlers :) Our annual Turkey Bowl didn't turn out as well as last year (meaning that neither Carrie nor my team won), but we had a ton of fun anyway. The weather was awesome, and Gigi and Tony put on an amazing party complete with dancing, good food, and good company!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Pranksgiving
November was a fun month. We had a trip planned to Arizona to celebrate Thanksgiving and Carrie's grandmother's wedding celebration, so we decided to have our own version of Thanksgiving a week early. It gave everyone a chance to see our new place and let us entertain for the first time in our new house. As often happens with our family get-togethers, things got a little crazy and we had a ton of fun! Which led me to refer to it as Pranksgiving from that day forward. We missed Jeremy and Kirsten but hope to see them soon. Take a look at the pics to get an idea of our night :)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Ups and Downs. And Hair on Fire.
October was an interesting month for us. I'd been training for a long time for the Denver marathon only to get sick at the last minute. It was an agonizing decision, but I decided not to run that morning in hopes that I could save it for another day. I felt bad because my dad had flown in especially for the race. He said that he wasn't disappointed, but I sure was.
In other news, Carrie's hair caught on fire! We had an incredible Halloween celebration complete with spooky cocktails, a Wizard of Oz troupe, and some late night Rock Band. AND some fireworks. As she was leaning back to get a picture of us, Carrie's hair - chock full of hairspray to make a convincing zombie bride - got a little too close to the candle on the mantle and burst into flames! No pics of the actual fire, but you can see Doug's reaction as Carrie's taking the ill-fated picture.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Mysterious, Horrible Smell
A couple of weeks ago, we were driving to Emilie and Doug's when Carrie noticed a strong odor in the car. Something like a mix of wet dog, burnt hair, and manure. We decided that it was Emilie and Doug's sleeping bags, which we were taking back to them after they'd been in our garage for a while. We debated whether to tell them or just put the sleeping bags in their garage
before they could smell them. Here's a shot of the way over.
As we got in the car to leave their house about six hours later, we were instantly alerted that it was certainly NOT their sleeping bags. Doug and Ben (Emilie's brother) made the mistake of sticking their heads in the car to check it out only to end up dry-heaving for five minutes afterward. Apparently having the doors and windows shut for six hours gave it time to strengthen in pungency to an almost lethal level.
Some searching around in the car led me to an old water bottle in the backseat floorboard that had once held Carrie's protein shake mix - Cookies 'n' Cream powder plus cranberry juice. What it now held was a fermented draught of evil. I opened the lid to confirm that it was the culprit and it almost burned my eyes out.
We threw the bottle away, went home, and googled every home remedy we could find for odor removal. Charcoal was the winner, and I drove my car around for the next week with two baking pans full of charcoal briquettes. No dice. I finally got my car detailed, complete with carpet shampooing, and that took most of it out. The smell is lingering but getting better with each Febrezing.
Moral of story. Cookies 'n' Cream plus cranberry juice is the worst combination ever for a protein shake.
before they could smell them. Here's a shot of the way over.As we got in the car to leave their house about six hours later, we were instantly alerted that it was certainly NOT their sleeping bags. Doug and Ben (Emilie's brother) made the mistake of sticking their heads in the car to check it out only to end up dry-heaving for five minutes afterward. Apparently having the doors and windows shut for six hours gave it time to strengthen in pungency to an almost lethal level.
Some searching around in the car led me to an old water bottle in the backseat floorboard that had once held Carrie's protein shake mix - Cookies 'n' Cream powder plus cranberry juice. What it now held was a fermented draught of evil. I opened the lid to confirm that it was the culprit and it almost burned my eyes out.
We threw the bottle away, went home, and googled every home remedy we could find for odor removal. Charcoal was the winner, and I drove my car around for the next week with two baking pans full of charcoal briquettes. No dice. I finally got my car detailed, complete with carpet shampooing, and that took most of it out. The smell is lingering but getting better with each Febrezing.Moral of story. Cookies 'n' Cream plus cranberry juice is the worst combination ever for a protein shake.
For Holly
Yes, we are back in the blogosphere. Hopefully with a little more regularity this time :)
Many things have happened since our last post in March 2009, but most of them have happened in the past four weeks. Soooo....
1) I finished my post-doc in Boulder! As of August 12, I am happily self-employed and building my private practice here in Fort Collins! Feels great so far - it's definitely where I want to be putting my energy.
2) Carrie started back to "real work" - no more summer vacation (if there ever was one in the first place) - she was hard at work starting August 1, prepping to teach all the new interns at the counseling center how to lead groups. Tons of work, but she's the best one for it - as anyone who's seen her in action could attest, she has got some group-leading skillz.
3) I passed the dreaded licensing exam...the last professional hurdle or test that I will EVER have to take is done! This brings credibility and opens a lot of possibilities for me - always a good thing.
4) We moved! To a new house on the western side of Fort Collins near the stadium. We love it so far - tons of room and a yard :) I like the trails nearby too. It's a little bit longer bike ride, but totally worth it.
And of course.....the wedding! On August 29, we made it official. No more living in sin - we're totally legit now. Check out some pictures by going here and scrolling about a third of the way down. We had a complete blast with all of our friends and family over the weekend! Some karaoke, some drinks, a LOT of love and fabulous weather made for a perfect weekend - thanks to all of you who came to celebrate with us :)
The next month or so looks to be pretty busy too - hopefully a party in the new house, a couple of friends' weddings, and a marathon in October...
Many things have happened since our last post in March 2009, but most of them have happened in the past four weeks. Soooo....
1) I finished my post-doc in Boulder! As of August 12, I am happily self-employed and building my private practice here in Fort Collins! Feels great so far - it's definitely where I want to be putting my energy.
2) Carrie started back to "real work" - no more summer vacation (if there ever was one in the first place) - she was hard at work starting August 1, prepping to teach all the new interns at the counseling center how to lead groups. Tons of work, but she's the best one for it - as anyone who's seen her in action could attest, she has got some group-leading skillz.
3) I passed the dreaded licensing exam...the last professional hurdle or test that I will EVER have to take is done! This brings credibility and opens a lot of possibilities for me - always a good thing.
4) We moved! To a new house on the western side of Fort Collins near the stadium. We love it so far - tons of room and a yard :) I like the trails nearby too. It's a little bit longer bike ride, but totally worth it.
And of course.....the wedding! On August 29, we made it official. No more living in sin - we're totally legit now. Check out some pictures by going here and scrolling about a third of the way down. We had a complete blast with all of our friends and family over the weekend! Some karaoke, some drinks, a LOT of love and fabulous weather made for a perfect weekend - thanks to all of you who came to celebrate with us :)
The next month or so looks to be pretty busy too - hopefully a party in the new house, a couple of friends' weddings, and a marathon in October...
Friday, March 27, 2009
Snow Day
Those of you in Colorado know that we've gotten pounded over the last couple of days by some major snow. For once, BOTH universities closed, giving Carrie and I snow days! There's something nice about having an excuse to stay in the house and relax. Carrie is sadly back at work today while I'm still off on a university holiday, drinking coffee and watching the snow melt.
Monday, March 23, 2009
KARAOKE!!!
We had an excellent weekend. Friday night we went to dinner with Bethany and Robyn. Then to karaoke at the Armadillo where Amber, Ryan, and some other friends met us for Kim's birthday!!!! We weren't out on the patio yet, but Karaoke at the Armadillo is an all time favorite!!!
We've gotta get some practice in for our weekend celebration.
It was sunny and beautiful all weekend. On Saturday, We played outside at Dixon reservoir, and then on sunday we ran , biked , and had a couple beers with Emilie and Doug out on their back patio. A perfect weekend!!!
HONEYMOON!!
We are soooo excited!! After lots of debate, thought and research-we have decided to go to the Philippines for our honeymoon. We plan on waiting until December to take off because we have a break between semesters and will also get some time to save money after the ceremony.
It has everything we're looking for culture, adventure, budget friendly- and take a look at these beaches!!
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